Muriel Crianza, the art of mixing

APRIL 2019.? Our winemaker, Chema Ryan, says in an essential interview in this same blog that the great differences in an area as extensive as the Rioja Denomination of Origin have historically favoured blend wines. Riojan producers have made an art from selection and mixing.

At a more specific level, even in each municipality of those that make up the DOCa Rioja, tradition has marked a path of mixing. The grapes of different vineyard plots are combined vintage after vintage with a great objective: to achieve an unmistakable style, result of  origin and agroclimatic factors but, above all, result of the personality that each winemaker seeks and presents to a faithful market . That continuity is what makes Rioja such a powerful collective brand. A wine name that is unbeatable in its ability for seducing and achieving customer loyalty.

Muriel Crianza is one of our most representative wines of the art of mixing. It comes from a myriad of vineyard plots located in several areas of the municipality of Elciego and surrounding villages such as Baños de Ebro, Navaridas and Laguardia. All of them, in Rioja Alavesa. When selecting your Tempranillo grape production to produce  Muriel Crianza, what we are looking for is a homogeneous and recognizable style year after year. A style that is defined by the aromatic, fruity, extraordinarily drinkable character. That is, an accessible personality, open to all palates and moments of consumption. At the same time, deeply rooted in tradition: Crianza is our first ambassador of Rioja Alavesa and must express a sense of continuity with respect to what has always been. With Muriel Crianza we do not look for the specificity of a vineyard, but for the balance and the generic expression of a wider territory (and very typical of our trajectory): the hills, terraces, slopes and small plains around Elciego, between the Sierra de Cantabria calcareous rocks and the banks of the Ebro river.

Elciego river plains extend to the banks of the Ebro river, at an altitude of 400 meters above the sea level. Much of the tempranillo we harvest to make Muriel Crianza comes from the vineyards of this area, which we classify as "zone A".
To the right of the image we can see the village of Cenicero, on the other side of the Ebro and, therefore, in Rioja Alta."